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August 20, 2018

“Slay your Goliath.”

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Happy Monday! Let’s break it down for storytime before diving into this week’s Monday Mantra…“Slay your Goliath.”

Back in the day, there was to be a battle between the Philistines and the Israelites. The Philistines chose a champion fighter to represent them – measuring what would be 9 ft. 3 inches by today’s standards (holy tall), covered in armor + impressive weaponry.

Enter, Goliath.

Goliath was intimidating AF, to say the least. And he told King Saul to send someone out to fight him. I mean…thanks but no thanks, amiright??? If someone could kill him, they would all become his servants. But if HE won, Israel would be THEIR servants.

Enter, David.

David was a young shepherd boy. Basically, the total physical opposite of an armored literal giant. When David came to Saul, Saul started explaining the 52 and then some reasons why he thought David could NOT slay Goliath. Namely that Goliath was – oh I dunno – a champion warrior and David was…not.

But David wasn’t having it.

He was convinced that a few things were on his side. 1.) His experience as a shepherd. If/when lions or tigers or bears (oh my!) came to mess with his father’s flock, he would be the one to chase + strike it down to save the lamb. 2.) His faith in God. “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” He believed he COULD. And we all know how that Pinterest quote ends…

Enter, today’s Monday Mantra:

Slay your Goliath.

I think we all know how the story goes at this point, amiright?

David with his five stones + slingshot approached Goliath head-on (literally), slingshotting a single stone straight into his forehead…killing him. He knew that taking the expected route wouldn’t work with Goliath. Nor would coming to Goliath’s playing field, since the dude had a bit of an obvious advantage right outta the gate (hello, he could smush the kid instantly). David couldn’t compare to Goliath in terms of strength or shield or power or might. But he COULD think outside the box and bring something new to the field that was special to his own skillset that would be the real difference-maker.

I don’t even think this dude knew what a slingshot WAS, let alone expected it to be his kryptonite. So, Goliath fell. David slayed Goliath. And we have every right + ability to slay our own Goliaths – to pull a David on ’em – in our own way. Whether our Goliath is a literal person, a horrible job, a hard choice, a medical diagnosis, or some other challenging test entirely, we know ’em, we have ’em, we fight ’em.

To slay your Goliath rests on a few key things:

1.) Adaptability.

2.) Choice.

I saw the most perfect quote recently that really hits this one home: “Adaptability beats strength when strength does not adapt.”

Your Goliath could feel far beyond the physical specs of David’s Goliath. Your Goliath could feel taller, broader, stronger, mightier – whatever. But like David, your Goliath might lack adaptability. If you can think outside the box to beat your own Goliath, you just might find your secret sauce of success for a W at the end of the fight. Of course, adaptability does not mean changing the Goliath. As I’m sure you know well, some Goliaths ARE Goliaths to us because of how stinkin’ stubborn + unchangeable they are/feel. So it’s not up to THEM to adapt.

It’s up to us to figure out how we even *can* adapt in the situation to not only beat Goliath in the end, but to be + stay OK through the fight. That might mean adapting physically, but it might mean adapting mentally or emotionally to change the way we were thinking about Goliath in the first place, to reframe the fight to something winnable for us. Mentally shrinking Goliath might not LITERALLY lessen his size, but it very well might make us a helluvah lot more likely to approach the giant head-on in the first place.

Then there’s the whole “choice” factor.

The most successful folks in life are often the grittiest. They’re the ones who choose to be successful, and settle for no lesser choice. They choose to work, they choose to fight, they choose to trust God along the way.

They also choose to embrace the unknown next steps, knowing that sometimes the challenge ahead is an essential mountain to summit before the picture-perfect view. And if it does not challenge you, it cannot change you.

But we have to choose to not only allow ourselves to be challenged, but to allow ourselves to be changed in the process. Change isn’t easy OR comfy, but it is necessary for us to live the best damn lives we could possible be living. And change takes choice.

Oftentimes, that choice is an action. A strong, definitive action, as bold-feeling as showing up to battle against an armed giant with nothing but a rubber band and some rocks.

Since David v. Goliath IS one of the most Bible stories ever, it’s only fitting top drop a verse for ya before peacing out:

“The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you.”{Deuteronomy 1:30}

Think about it. Pray about it. …isn’t it something special?

No matter how giant your Goliath, you are not alone. You are never alone. Your fight is not yours alone.

I will never forget a devotional I read that accompanied the story of David v. Goliath. It said, “David trusted God, but he still picked up five smooth stones. This shows that God will help us slay the giants, but we have to show him that we are not helpless.“

God will fight for us, but we’re in it together. Against any Goliath, we aren’t called to sit back and let God swoop in on a white horse to take over while we meekly watch from a safe, comfy distance.

Nope.

We’re called to take God with us into battle. We’re called to trust that God will a.) be there in the first place, and b.) guide our path + decisions + thoughts to eventual victory. We’re called to never believe that God is abandoning us in our scariest, hardest moments, but to always hold onto hope that He is right there next to us, equipping our minds + hearts for the next move.

CURRENTLY CRAVING

IN MY MAKEUP BAG

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